US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta on Tuesday said the US was waging “war” in Pakistan against militants, referring to a covert campaign the CIA steadfastly refuses to publicly confirm. It was Panetta’s latest comment acknowledging drone bombing raids in the country, an open secret that the US government declines to discuss publicly. Speaking to an audience at the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington, the former CIA director pointed to a “complicated relationship” between Washington and Islamabad. “And admittedly, there are a lot of reasons for that.
We are fighting a war in their country,” Panetta said. “They have in fact given us cooperation in the operations of trying to confront al Qaeda in (Tribal Areas)… And they continue to work with us.” But he said the two countries had sharp disagreements over “the relations they maintain with some of the militant groups in that country”, a reference to Washington’s demand that Islamabad crack down on the Haqqani network.
During a visit to US bases in Italy last week, Panetta made two casual references to the CIA’s use of armed drones. “Having moved from the CIA to the Pentagon, obviously I have a hell of a lot more weapons available to me in this job than I did at CIA – although Predators aren’t bad,” Panetta told an audience of sailors at the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet headquarters in Naples.
and where is the best buddy china..???? pakis are all isolated now…hahahha
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